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Asteroids
Reviews Summary C+VG Issue 1 Vaporising ever-larger clusters of meteors before they belt your spaceship are the ingredients which turned Asteroids into a classic pub and arcade game. It has survived the conversion to the living room, remaining just as addictive and offering a good deal more colour and versatility. Both the original Asteroids arcade game with the hyperspace button and the more recent Asteroids de Luxe, with the shields innovation, are to be found among the 66 versions of the game on the Atari cartridge. The action centres on a small arrow-head-shaped spacecraft, controlled by you. This can be rotated in either direction, it can fire at a reasonably rapid rate at a push of the button and — for the more advanced — thrust off in the direction you are heading. This ability takes some controlling, for although you start slowly it is possible to whizz across the screen faster than any asteroid with a very good chance of crashing. There is also the worry that unless you get back to the centre of the screen before the last asteroid is destroyed you will find an asteroid materialising on top of you. There are also three special features hyperspace, shields and flip. Hyperspace is a classic panic button. When destruction seems inevitable push the joystick back and you disappear off the screen, only to re-appear split seconds later elsewhere. There is no guarantee that you will not re-appear on top of an asteroid, though, and that split second it takes you to re-orientate yourself may also be your last. Shields last for only two seconds They enable you to pass through the asteroids but if you put them down too soon it is fatal — and the same applies when you keep them on for more than two seconds. Flip gives the ability to turn 180 degrees instantly and fire at any asteroids trying to sneak up behind you. One difficulty switch "A", alien satellites add to your problems by flying across the screen firing at you. A large blue one of these emerges early without appearing very adept at either dodging asteroids or firing accurately. His little green brother which appears more frequently in thelater stages of the game is far more accurate. The asteroids split in half when hit with those half-size pieces of rock splitting again upon another hit. These small boulders are destroyed on the next successful shot but being faster and more difficult to hit are worth more points. Arcade Asteroids machine players will have to learn to use the joystick instead of pressing buttons and may need to re-think their tactics but otherwise this is very close to the game they already love. Whether they can afford the £34.50, which makes Asteroids one of the more expensive cartridges for the Atari Video Computer system, is another matter. C+VG Issue 4 Asteroids made the transition from arcade to home entertainment centre far more successfully than its predecessor, Space Invaders. Atari came up with the arcade game and were first to include a cartridge for the video computer system — which now outsells Space Invaders and it resulted in an international competition last November to find the top scorer. The target is 142,910 points, which an American player achieved, to win the contest. The asteroids hurtle through the cosmos, each hit splitting them in half, each sized rock being worth a certain number of points. The smallest ones net 100, downwards to 10 for a giant rock. With the difficulty button on a blue flying saucer whizzes through the storm, firing on your ship. The spacecraft can be rotated left or right to fire and moved out of position by use of the thrust which propels it in the direction it is pointing. Other features incorporated into different versions of the game {there are 66) include hyperspace, which transports you instantly out of danger to another area of the screen. In other versions you can have the hyperspace swapped for protective shields which enable you to pass through asteroids, but these are only effective for a brief second and then blow you up if over used. And finally a "flip" effect enables your ship to spin 180° and fire at oncoming danger from both sides very quickly. You are given five lives to start off the game but extra ones are available every 5, 10, or 20 thousand points, depending on the difficulty you set yourself. In later walls the large blue saucer is replaced by a far more deadly small green one who homes in on your ship much quicker. With each cleared screen more rocks are added to the game. Guaranteed to hold your attention, it costs £34.50 from Atari's U.K. distributors. Category:Arcade Games Category:Atari 2600 Games Category:Atari Category:C+VG Reviews Category:TV Gamer Reviews